Brother Jophie

Jophie, with his wife, planned to stay for four days.

Unbeknown to most in the family, Jophie contributed substantially toward my college expenses. I am eternally grateful for that.

So when he asked me to help with Mother, I did it in a heartbeat.

However, I was getting tired and worn out when his requests became more frequent and demanding, physically and emotionally, as I needed some rest in the daytime after my graveyard shift, 10:00pm-6:00am without sleep.

I was annoyed by his hands-off and aloof manner, and further irritated as he seemed to keep his distance from Mother.

Jophie was Mother's most favored child. He was a middle kid, fifth out of ten, and the third son out of five. In the traditional Chinese family, the best loved child by the parents is usually the youngest son.

Some months later, Mother's fifteen-minute appointment with the chief psychiatrist in the local mental institution expanded to two hours as I explained how that came about.